Castello Ordis
Chapter one.
Introduction.
Darkness, enveloping darkness. Where have I gone wrong? Why am I here? When will the light return. Castello's mind was rapidly switching topics, he was drafted into the Imperial Guard during the Tithe Ceremony, when the rulers of the planet draft men and women to serve the Regiment native to the world. Castillax Prime was the home system to many in the few sectors that made up the Castillax area. It was won back from many Ork warlords that had overrun the planet and surrounding systems. The Tyranian Guard, the home regiment, was a deadly force, numbering seven-teen million guardsmen and women and the guns to arm them all at a moment's notice. They were famed throughout the Imperium for their discipline and survivability rate. They used their force to take back the entire area and guard it, numbering a million guardsmen per star system and even more ships and vehicles. However their main force was here, on Castillax, under the prime star of the group of stars. The men and women of the Tyranian Guard were adept against most foes, in fact the only enemy they've had yet to face throughout their entire history, was the Imperium itself, having defeated countless Eldar, Tau, Chaos Marines, Necrons and Orks. People on Castillax gladly threw themselves into the arms of the Tyranian Guard in hopes of getting the fame and fortune of their peers. Castello, however, was one not so happy with being tithed. He was a first-born, meaning no matter what was to happen, he was to be shipped away, he just hoped he'd had enough time to adjust to living on the Feudal world. The Shuttle he resided in shook with the force it used to exit the atmosphere of the world. There were people with him, but he felt needlessly alone in the darkness of the shuttle. He brought his knees to his chest and sighed heavily, he wore a typical dress-shirt and trousers as was the typical style of his home-world. A black color styled with golden embroidery and curled in specific spots to flare the wearers appearance. The male outfit gave the men a muscular look, while the traditional clothing of the women gave special attention to their bosoms. The many musical groups of the world blared in his ears as they played them throughout the speakers of the shuttle to calm the passengers. Although Castello much preferred the old-age musical groups of Terra. Ones that were around millennia before now. Sadly the ways to get such items were beyond him, except for when his home-world played them on holidays. The shuttle shook him from his reverie after a sudden shockwave came over it and red lights flicked on. A voice came on over the Intercom,
"We have now entered the upper atmosphere, and will be picked up shortly by the ship Blazing Light the main battleship of the Tyranian Fleet." The voice then cut off and left all the people in the shuttle, four dozen to be totally exact. To look at each other, there was room enough so that everyone could lie down if they wanted to and have at least ten feet of space in between for each person. They had to be this big to accommodate for large amounts of people, simultaneously, even after this shuttle launches, there would be several hundred more, carrying even more passengers in just this day alone. Klaxons blared and filled the room with their sound, and the voice returned with the news of their docking, and instructed the people inside to stay seated until they were connected with the Starship. The shuttle made a few more shudders, and then there was a loud Whoosh as the outside was pressurized just like the interior of the shuttle and the launch door opened. Standing before the forty-some recruits for the Tyranian Regiment, were four standard guardsmen, a commissar, and a stern-faced sergeant, the sergeant was behind the commissar and bushed roughly past, but the other man voiced no qualms. The Sergeant had a hawkish nose that was complimented by his slightly-gaunt cheeks and plain features, his hair was shaved, but starting to grow out in certain areas, telling that he had lived long enough to see it grow back somewhat in his years of service. When he spoke, it brought the two groups to a grinding halt and hushed both groups as well.
"Welcome Meat. I am Staff Sergeant Michael Kauf. And I will whip you into some kind of fighting shape. Obviously, most of you will not get the training for real guardsmen, most people Tithed just serve as conscripts. But, for the time being, you are all under my command." He turned abruptly to the commissar, and nodded. The commissar stepped forward, his cloak billowing behind him to dramatic effect thanks to the air circulation.
"Come with me to your section of the battleship, any aggressiveness to crew or each other while on the ship, will be met with your swift execution, until we reach the Training World of Borelian, a harsh world where the climates vary greatly, it's what'll give you your prowess that the Tyranian Guard is famous for. Now, enough of the introductions follow me. And quickly, there will be punishment for stragglers. "
After that long comment, the commissar actually seemed like a merry kind of person, as he led he joked on several occasions and not one of the men in Castello's group failed to keep up. He was paired with three other people in a room of the Guardsman Wing. Castello sat on his cot near the far corner whilst the other three sat conversing, from what he heard, he could tell they were talking about their lives back on-planet, but couldn't make out much more than that thanks to the shudder that rocked through their room as more people started to enter the Guardsmen wing. Out of about thirty thousand this day, only a third was allowed to become guardsmen, and even then, if they failed most of the training, they would be reduced to conscripts. A grand total would not be announced until the end of the week, when all the tithes were taken into the ship. At the moment, Castello sat and simply watched the three converse or twiddled his thumbs. He finally acknowledged them fully when one person, a female in the group, the only female of the group, called his name. She has long auburn hair down to her shoulders and wore the typical gold and blue outfit of Tyranian Guard issued clothing, a fabric that seemed to barely hold back her breasts and gave pronouncement to her thin frame. Her face was given emphasis through pink full lips and large green eyes, a small pointed nose gave her a feminine charm, when she called out to Castello, her full lips parted and showed perfect rows of white teeth.
"So, you coming over or not?" The woman said with a bit of a musical-sounding giggle. It shook Castello out of his stupor and he hopped down from the cot and moved over, the two men she was talking with looked at him and nodded their approval. Castello sat beside on, with the woman on his left side, the topic returned, only it was directed more at Castello, the woman leaned back and eyed him casually, he felt her eyes taking in his form, it made his face hot with embarrassment. However, Castello answered their questions as best he could.
"I am from a working-class family on the hive, first-born, my dad is retired from the Tyranian Guard, and my mother died shortly after I was born. As for siblings, not much, my Brother walked the path of the Scum, and was drafted just last year. My sister is at home, probably with yet another man."
This got a few muffled chuckles from the group, they introduced themselves. The man on his right was named Declan, across from him, the other man, was named Jerren. Then the stunning woman to his left, her name was Marie. The small group of new-found companions spent the next few hours chatting and lounging around, until the call for Warp-travel came, and the group climbed into their cots, the jump through the warp would shake most of the ship and if the Navigator failed they would be lost, so it was important for almost everyone to be somewhere familiar to help safeguard their sanity. Warp storms were an oddity, the dimension known as the Warp was a place where absolute chaos reigned. Using the navigator gene, ships were able to use the immatterum to travel through space almost instantaneously to whatever destination the navigator had set in. The ship shook as it entered Warp Travel. The sudden tremors that shook the ship ceased after what seemed like fifteen minutes, although it was more like five seconds. Ships always recoiled from the warp, as if even the metals that forged it's solid plating were afraid of the horrors within. Yet, Castello could not rest. Even as the ship shuddered under the stresses of the Warp-Travel, he felt himself urged out of his cot. He felt…. A presence, something nagging the back of his skull, as he stalks through the cabin he and his group was resting in. The door went open with a loud whirr, and Castello stepped through the open door, into the darkened corridor. The voice did not declare them free to move, but he did so anyways, his footsteps filling the darkened passageways when they connect with the metal flooring. A sudden screech of metal makes Castello jump, at this time fifty feet down the massive corridor, the sound echoed through the entire ship, enveloping him in its awakening tone. He could feel eyes, eyes were watching him, sensing him, trying to will him forward an extra inch to take their bloody toll on his body, and that is when he saw it. It was a massive horror, red-skinned, horns sprouting from its' elongated skull. It had four arms, held in two were long swords, written on them, was a form of demonic language. A long purple tongue flashed forward, ending an inch away from Castellos' face. He could smell the death that lingered in its saliva. Just as fast as it came, the figure vanished, their travel through the warp had ended. And Castello Collapsed onto the floor, the sudden psychological toll on him was immense. He was on the floor, coughing, and sputtering, his body shaking uncontrollably on the floor as his body seized from the horror he had just witnessed, and how it had vanished so suddenly. He felt a strong arm lift him, and a deep, powerful voice spoke into his ear. It was mechanical, and…. Familiar…..
"Fear not, brother, you are in the hands of the Guard now." It was all Castello could hear before he faded into unconsciousness.
Castello could feel a sharp pain in his head as his eyes slowly opened. Above him was an Apothecary, one of the medical-care personnel aboard the ship. The Apothecary eyed him critically, before taking a step back to allow him space to sit up. When Castello did so, only then did he note the Apothecary's features. It was a man that much was obvious, he had a scraggly beard and thick arms, legs, and neck. He was a monster of a man, and probably would dwarf him if they stood shoulder to shoulder. The Apothecary had long grey hair, and was clad in a bright white robe, with the insignia designating him as such. Castello let out a groan as a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he struggled to remain upright. The Apothecary reached out a hand to steady him, his hand was cool to the touch, but not clammy, and it was colder, firm. Like a man who knew he was dead, but was going to meet it head on.
"You took quite a blow to the head during our warp travel." Spoke the apothecary, producing a small clipboard and scrawling a few words onto it. "It looked very nasty; we thought the blow might've caused internal hemorrhaging." The Apothecary wrote a few more words on the clipboard before tossing it to the side. "Tell me, Castello, what did you see?"
At that moment, Castello could feel how close the Apothecary actually was, and noted the deep green of his eyes as they stared into him.
"I.. I don't know what I saw, it.. I think it was a demon" Castello answered, feeling the fear he felt at that moment return. The Apothecary eyed him for another moment before nodding his head and standing. He extended a hand toward Castello, which Castello took after a brief hesitation.
"Don't tell anyone what you've seen; the only people who'll know are me, and the leaders of the ship. When we reach the training world, that's when your fate shall be decided." With that, the apothecary left, the automatic doors closed behind him with a loud metallic clang and then Castello was suddenly, hopelessly, alone.
Castello was roused in his sleep by three men, Guardsmen, but bearing an elite insignia. Two approached and gripped his shoulders whilst the other trained a las-gun onto him.
"By order of the General of the Tyranian Guard, you are to come without resistance." The center man grunted, he was tall and thickly built, his combat armor fitting snugly against his skin. Guard armor wasn't overly large, only one to even two inches thick of plasteel or other materials to make a flak protection, useful mainly when being showered with artillery, not so much a frontal assault. This created a large demand for far-reaching weaponry, of which the Imperial Guard normally specialized. They were experts at vehicular warfare, and long ranges. Which created a deficit for close-range encounters. Nonetheless, the Guard was never to be underestimated, especially in close range combat. Castello was knocked from his stupor by a strong blow to the side of the head, staggering him and forcing him to take a few steps back and almost stumble over his own legs. The guard that struck him was the very same that had addressed him, and demanded his compliance. The other two guards had lost their grip upon Castello at the sudden blow from their superior, but were quick to catch him before he fell. Castello's face bled from where he was struck, the armor covering his hands had broken the skin in several places. The lead guardsmen then motioned to the others and began his march out of the room. The other two pulled Castello along obediently after him.